The trend of employees slowly leaving their jobs, known as 'quiet quitting', has become considerably more widespread in the UK since the pandemic. Quiet quitting involves an employee who has plans to change jobs - or who simply feels unengaged by their current job role = performing work to the minimum standard expected of them, without putting in any additional time, effort or enthusiasm.

Quiet quitting is obviously bad for employers, many of whom are also struggling to deliver services in this difficult post-pandemic climate, so it is essential for both employers and employees to understand how they can help each other to improve their performance and working lives, and why it is important for each to contribute to combatting this trend.

How many UK employees are unhappy in their jobs?

Lanes Group has taken an interest in the quiet quitting trend to try and understand what is stopping modern workers from having a better experience at work. We understand how important it is for employees to feel enthusiastic about their jobs, so we conducted a survey on job satisfaction, polling more than 2,080 UK professionals about their attitudes to their jobs and the quiet quitting trend in general.

Our survey found that the majority of the workers we asked are happy in their current employment roles (78%) and that most found their jobs to be meaningful (76%), suggesting that the rate of job satisfaction is higher than the media trends might initially suggest. However, after deeper analysis, our survey found that workers are also struggling with stress, with only 32% feeling that they deal with a manageable amount of stress from work.

Additionally, 67% of those polled admitted that they would describe their current attitude at work as quiet quitting. This adds credibility to the idea that quiet quitting is becoming an increasingly widespread trend, and shows that the attitude is now relatively common even among workers who are not otherwise actively dissatisfied with their roles.

Quiet quitting suggests complacency to working rather than direct aversion, and there are a number of reasons why this lax attitude may be worse for the employees as well as the employers, which we discuss below.

Why is quiet quitting becoming so popular?

While stress and job meaningfulness are highly relevant factors to workers' career choices, our survey found that the main causes of workers' losing interest in their jobs may be due to the lack of concrete benefits that they enjoy. The top examples of these include promotion opportunities, better salaries and flexible working options. 41% of respondents said they would consider changing jobs if offered these benefits, while 45% reported that they had changed jobs in the last year. This is a high percentage of workers who are not interested in remaining in their current roles, suggesting that these individuals are prioritising their own career development and long-term prospects rather than committing to a specific employer for its own sake.

Another trend that has become increasingly popular since 2021 is 'job hopping' - the idea that workers can make faster progression by switching jobs to better roles, rather than waiting in their current ones to receive a promotion. This goes hand-in-hand with quiet quitting, which workers may use while searching for another role to hop to.

Since the pandemic, it is clear to see that people are reassessing their work-life balance to better reflect the lives they want to lead, whether this is aiming for more income or more intense job roles, or for more time and flexibility in favour of less stable income. This shift has been coined 'The Great Resignation', and our investigation of the quiet quitting trend shows that many are still considering changing jobs and are seeking new opportunities, for a variety of reasons.

What are the effects of quiet quitting on businesses, and how can employers combat it?

Ultimately, employers need to understand what workers value and meet these requirements to keep the workers engaged and loyal to the business. By conducting investigations like this one, Lanes Group’s report provides evidence that most workers are interested in proactively pursuing a better work-life balance and more benefits; therefore, if a business does not offer this, they are prone to quit.

It is essential that employers take an interest in their employees, as constantly cycling teams and needing to conduct interviews puts a drain on the system, taking up valuable time and resources which could be used to improve the business in other ways. There are many issues that come with employees joining and leaving new jobs frequently, and many of these can lead to employees also missing out on certain benefits that come with being in a job role for an extended period of time.

Firstly, employers must train new staff, which takes time and money. Employers also need employees to feel as though they are a part of the business, rather than a tool to be used. While our survey found that employees generally find their jobs meaningful, they also need to find the business meaningful. This can be achieved by allowing workers to discuss their thoughts on the business openly, with the goal of improving it to meet their needs. This also applies to autonomy and flexibility - workers want to feel that they are valued as individuals, by trusting them to get the work done and allowing them the freedom to enjoy their workday. Employers should not micromanage their staff and instead allow them the opportunity to manage themselves.

Of course, to encourage employees to work, they must also feel that what they are getting in return is worth it. Find below the full list of benefits that employees stated they desire from their job:

• Better opportunities for promotion and career advancement - 40%
• Competitive salary - 40%
• More home working options - 33%
• Improved pension schemes - 32%
• Flexible hours and shift patterns - 27%
• Better work-life balance - 27%
• In-house training and qualification support - 25%
• Healthcare cover for medical expenses - 23%
• Charitable projects and community outreach organised through work - 21%
• A friendly and positive workplace culture - 18%
• Regular organised teambuilding events - 15%
• Childcare support - 14%
• In-house mental health and wellbeing support - 11%
• Regular social events and a culture of socialising outside of work hours - 7%

Lanes Group offers employees what they want

As an employee, you are the most important resource an employer can have. You should feel as though your needs are being met, and are working in a job role that offers long-term opportunities to fulfil your career goals. Lanes Group believes that employers and employees need to work together to benefit each other. We offer a variety of benefits, such as health schemes and pension options, and we understand workers' desire to improve - our training and development courses can help you to do so.
To read more about how satisfied our staff are in their jobs, visit our Staff Stories section, or take a look at our jobs today.
 

 

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